I'm back!

  Hey, fabulous fans! I have a lot to catch you up on.  We did show at Live Oak but I was so exhausted after three trips from Florida to Texas in three months, that all I did was chill in the pasture for over a week. The show went fairly well, but Mike was starting to have problems with his shoulder.  We all told him to cowboy up and admittedly he did try, but the pain continued to increase all summer. Partly because of this and partly because of the travel involved, we decided to stay home and train until the Iron Horse CDE in August.
  We spent the relative coolness of the early mornings training and the miserably hot afternoons under the shade of the pecan trees.  Donovan continued to get better and stronger, while Anton didn't seem to show much improvement at all.  It was decided to bring Tina back to the A-team for dressage. (much to her- I'm busy getting fat in this pasture thank you very much- surprise.) She worked in the lead with Tuff for awhile and then (just a couple of weeks before Iron Horse) was put in the wheel while Donovan and Tuff took the lead. Donovan and Tuff look pretty good up there if I do say so myself.  Tina is trying but still needs encouragement to not be lazy and make Ruff do all of the pulling.
  Sometime during all of this training, Mike finally got some effective treatment for his shoulder and started feeling much better.  I can feel it in the quickness and consistency of his rein-handling and am almost as relieved as he is!
  Coach Peter came to see us at the end of June.  We worked on cones.  Mike, in a fit of self-torture made the course himself and it was tough even for me! If we can get through this course, we can do anything!  We also practiced marathon.  Mike is making great strides in being able to keep up with us.  I still like to mess with him and duck in an opening at the last minute, though.  You'd think by now he'd know that I always make it and wouldn't get so uptight. Fun times!  With less than a month to go before we leave for Illinois, Coach Peter leaves us with plenty to work on.